This invention relates generally to a sliding door assembly for a cabinet and particularly to an assembly which can be used for glass fronted display cabinets for beverages, food products and the like.
In the prior art and, for example, in a patent owned by the assignee of the present application, namely, U.S. Pat. No. 3,328,106 Self-Closing Cabinet Doors are known. This particular patent, utilizes an offset counterweight system having a double bent guide tube which directs the sash-line through two 90° turns.
As pointed out in U.S. Pat. No. 3,328,106 the use of pulleys had not proved successful because the sash-line tends to slip off the pulleys, which was a problem solved by the use of a double bent guide tube. On the other hand, the guide tube does not have the relatively frictionless free motion of a pulley system such as a ball bearing pulley system.
The present invention overcomes the disadvantages of the known prior art systems.